Village Of Cross Keys

Conceding that the Village of Cross Keys is in need of "investment," the owner of the residential, retail and office complex is planning a mostly cosmetic makeover that would revamp the gatehouse, freshen the courtyard of the shopping center, and turn a so-called "tennis barn" on the grounds into a fitness center. "We buy properties that we want to improve," Joe Press, a senior vice president for Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., told the Roland Park Civic League on Thursday. "This property hasn't had much put into it in a number of years.

Octavia Dugan, who founded a Village of Cross Keys boutique and was considered an arbiter of traditional fashion, died in her sleep of undetermined causes Saturday at Palm City Nursing Home in Palm City, Fla. The former Cromwell Valley resident was 98. Born Octavia Whelan Chatard in Baltimore and raised on Calvert Street, she was the daughter of Dr. J. Albert Chatard, a physician, and Alice Whelan, a homemaker. She attended the Baltimore Academy of the Visitation and Notre Dame Preparatory School, where she graduated in 1934.

The Village of Cross Keys, an upscale North Baltimore shopping center and one of the earliest projects of Columbia founder James W. Rouse, has been sold by General Growth Properties to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., a retail and office property investor, according to a notice to tenants delivered Wednesday. The center on Falls Road is now being managed by Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., according to the memo to retailers from the center's management office. The open-air shopping center has about 30 shops and restaurants, including Williams-Sonoma, Talbots, Ruth Shaw and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa. Chicago-based General Growth, which owns most of the malls in the Baltimore area, has been selling off noncore assets to boost its balance sheet since emerging from bankruptcy in 2010.

Conceding that the Village of Cross Keys is in need of "investment," the owner of the residential, retail and office complex is planning a mostly cosmetic makeover that would revamp the gatehouse, freshen the courtyard of the shopping center, and turn a so-called "tennis barn" on the grounds into a fitness center. "We buy properties that we want to improve," Joe Press, a senior vice president for Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., told the Roland Park Civic League on Thursday. "This property hasn't had much put into it in a number of years.

The Rouse Co. plans to spend $6.8 million to renovate most of the public spaces in the Village of Cross Keys, a 30-year-old mixed-use complex in Baltimore.Cross Keys also has found a gourmet food vendor to repace the well-known Village Food Center, which closed last year.The renovation is the second major upgrade in recent years for Cross Keys, an urban showplace for Columbia-based Rouse that has lost several key tenants in recent years. The Cross Keys Inn's 150 rooms were refurbished two years ago.Rouse will renovate Cross Keys' lobbies, halls, restaurants, meeting rooms and ballroom.

By Jacques Kelly and Jacques Kelly,jacques.kelly@baltsun.com | May 30, 2009

Dorothea "Doty" Brown, who fled Nazi Germany and ran a chain of children's shops in Baltimore, died of an infection May 23 at Union Memorial Hospital. The Village of Cross Keys resident was 94. Born Dorothea Dreifuss in Berlin, she became a professional portrait photographer and often took pictures of children. "She was raised in a very reformed Jewish home. Her mother had converted to Judaism," said her son, Gary Schoenemann of Owings Mills. "She had a private Jewish education, and the emphasis of the household was on culture, education and sports."

Octavia Dugan, who founded a Village of Cross Keys boutique and was considered an arbiter of traditional fashion, died in her sleep of undetermined causes Saturday at Palm City Nursing Home in Palm City, Fla. The former Cromwell Valley resident was 98. Born Octavia Whelan Chatard in Baltimore and raised on Calvert Street, she was the daughter of Dr. J. Albert Chatard, a physician, and Alice Whelan, a homemaker. She attended the Baltimore Academy of the Visitation and Notre Dame Preparatory School, where she graduated in 1934.

On Sunday, February 13, 2005, VIRGINIA PENFIELD BARR; devoted mother of Anne Perkins, George Scarlett, Robert Scarlett, Amy Shimp. Also survived by grandchildren; Andy, Ginny, Will, Evan, Brian, Kevin, Katie and Colin and five great-grandchildren. The family will receive friends from 3 to 7 P.M., on Tuesday, February 22, at 38 Bouton Green Village of Cross Keys, Balto. A Memorial Service will be held at 10 A.M. on Wednesday, February 23, in the chapel of the Church of the Redeemer, 5603 North Charles Street, Balto.

Duskin owner files for Chap. 11The owner of Nan Duskin, a three-store chain that specializes in designer clothing, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Philadelphia.The company, ND Acquisition Inc., has a store at the Village of Cross Keys on Falls Road. It will remain open, and there will be no layoffs, said Louis N. Marks, chairman and chief executive officer of ND Acquisition Inc.The other two stores are in Pennsylvania. The company lists $6.2 million in assets and $6 million in liabilities.

The Village of Cross Keys, an upscale North Baltimore shopping center and one of the earliest projects of Columbia founder James W. Rouse, has been sold by General Growth Properties to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., a retail and office property investor, according to a notice to tenants delivered Wednesday. The center on Falls Road is now being managed by Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., according to the memo to retailers from the center's management office. The open-air shopping center has about 30 shops and restaurants, including Williams-Sonoma, Talbots, Ruth Shaw and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa. Chicago-based General Growth, which owns most of the malls in the Baltimore area, has been selling off noncore assets to boost its balance sheet since emerging from bankruptcy in 2010.

By Jacques Kelly and Jacques Kelly,jacques.kelly@baltsun.com | May 30, 2009

Dorothea "Doty" Brown, who fled Nazi Germany and ran a chain of children's shops in Baltimore, died of an infection May 23 at Union Memorial Hospital. The Village of Cross Keys resident was 94. Born Dorothea Dreifuss in Berlin, she became a professional portrait photographer and often took pictures of children. "She was raised in a very reformed Jewish home. Her mother had converted to Judaism," said her son, Gary Schoenemann of Owings Mills. "She had a private Jewish education, and the emphasis of the household was on culture, education and sports."

The Rouse Co. plans to spend $6.8 million to renovate most of the public spaces in the Village of Cross Keys, a 30-year-old mixed-use complex in Baltimore.Cross Keys also has found a gourmet food vendor to repace the well-known Village Food Center, which closed last year.The renovation is the second major upgrade in recent years for Cross Keys, an urban showplace for Columbia-based Rouse that has lost several key tenants in recent years. The Cross Keys Inn's 150 rooms were refurbished two years ago.Rouse will renovate Cross Keys' lobbies, halls, restaurants, meeting rooms and ballroom.

WISH LIST 98 Village Square, Village of Cross Keys / / Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday / / 410-323-9101, bbbag.com ........................ THE BRIGHT LIME-GREEN SIGNS on the front doors of Wish List are a pretty good indicator of what you'll find inside; preppy and whimsical gift items in perky colors line the walls of the cozy store, which is the exclusive seller of Bosom Buddy Bags, a line of handbags created by owners Karin Chriss and Andrea Stieff. The retail is fairly eclectic--from initialed pink and green polka-dotted beer cozies to leather slides and one-of-a-kind suede bags adorned with antique handles.

Hundreds of residents and businesses in a 73-acre swath of North Baltimore, including the Village of Cross Keys, were without water most of the day after a main break on Falls Road north of Cold Spring Lane, a city public works spokesman said. The 80-year-old, 10-inch water main ruptured about 10 a.m. in the 4700 block of Falls Road, DPW spokesman Kurt Kocher said. DPW provided bottled water to a ManorCare facility that houses 180 residents, he said. In addition, the 388 homes in the Village of Cross Keys, as well as its 150-bed hotel and many homes in neighborhoods on Falls Road between Cold Spring Lane and Northern Parkway, were affected.